ISO 27001 Certification: 7 Steps you Need to Undertake

Summary
Go through this article to explore the seven steps that can help you achieve the ISO 27001 certification.

Most of the companies need some sorts of controls to deal with information security. These controls are of immense significance because data is the most important asset for any organization these days. The efficiency of the information security system depends on how effectively an organization is managing the controls.

There are some organizations that introduce security controls in a messy way. Some controls are designed for addressing certain problems. However, some controls are developed only for the convention. You should consider a security policy that can address all the vital issues related to the IT security system. The International Organization for Standardization introduced to meet these issues.

What is ISO 27001 Standard?

ISO 27001 Standard requires a management system that shapes the information security system stronger in an organisation. This management system is a framework that contains a number of elements related to the data safety within an organisation, such as the implementation of security policy, outlining the security objectives, aligning these security objectives with the business objectives etc. These days, most of the companies are employing integrated management systems; for instance, a combination of ISO 9001 Quality Business Management System and ISO 14001 Environmental Management System.

7 Vital Steps to ISO 27001 Standard

As it has been stated earlier, an Information Security Management System is the basic requirement of ISO 27001 Standard. Let’s find out seven important steps that can help you gain certification to ISO 27001.

Step 1: Secure Executive Support & Set the Objectives

Well, when it comes to the implementation of Information Security Management Systems or ISMS, you should start with the engagement of the top management. Your management should decide the distribution of the roles among the resources. They should also decide the budget for describing and maintaining the management system.

Always remember that setting objectives is an iterative process that needs updates on a yearly basis. The top management should set the objectives, communicate properly, and supervise the overall progress.

Step 2: Define the Scope of the System

You would be surprised to learn that ISO 27001 certification is well grounded for the technical requirements of information security of an organisation. That’s why an organisation should pick the security measures and standard that can have an impact on the ISMS. This ISO standard has explained the methods required for making up the Management System of the organisation. At the same time, you should think of the monitoring process. The implementation process should be suitable for adopting any changes suggested by the performance assessment result.

Step 3: Assess the Assets and Analyse the Risks

In the third step, you should evaluate the data processing assets and perform a risk analysis for the organisation. Now you might be thinking what this assessment is. Well, it is a kind of self -assessment that is designed to find out the flaws and gaps existed within the Information Security Management System so that an organisation can find out the loopholes and fill them before the final audit. Whenever you will conduct the assessment, you will be able to figure out the possible risks and gaps. This is very important for ensuring the certification. This assessment should include:

• Hardware
• Servers
• Network Infrastructure
• Cloud Services
• Customer and Stakeholders’ Information
• Paper Media Data

Step 4: Define the Information Security Management System

Once the executive support has been availed and objectives have been sorted, and the risk assessment is done, it is the right time for giving the system the ultimate shape. As an outcome, the remaining elements of the system will be defined and the security measurements will be implemented properly.

Step 5: Train the Employees and Build the Competencies for the Assigned Roles

If you want to make the system efficacious, you should ensure that your employees are operating the system properly. The way a quality business management system requires proper training of the employees, the ISMS also requires trained and competent staffs. Otherwise, all of your efforts would be of no use!

Step 6: System Maintenance and Monitoring

When it comes to an ISO standard, maintenance becomes vital stuff. After implementation, you should pay special attention to your implemented system. Maintenance of the system is critical to the certification. Therefore, you must ensure that your management is looking after the system and maintain it in a most effective way.

Step 7: Final Audit

This is the last step where an independent certification body will audit your system to determine whether your organisation deserves the certification or not. It should be noted that ISO does not provide any certification. You need to hire an ISO authorised independent certification body to carry out the audit process.

This is all you need to know about ISO 27001 Standard. Do follow the steps to ensure your success!